Saturday, January 29, 2011

Along her long journey, miss_teerious has received many awards and accolades from her BFs (blogger friends). Till the end of 2010, these awards were displayed in the sidebar, but eventually I decided to create a separate page for them.

These are the Awards received by this blog so far (in the order they were received). You can click on the award name or award picture to read the post associated with that award. I'll keep updating this page as and when required.

I found a couple of pending awards in my "to-blog" folder recently. Accepting them officially now.

The first one is the "Honest Scrap Award" from Shilpa Garg. This award is accompanied by a tag. The rules are as follows:

“Honest Scrap” Award, is given by bloggers to other bloggers who express themselves and write/blog from their heart & soul. List 10 honest things about yourself—and make them interesting, even if you have to dig deep! Link to the person who tagged you, and pass the award on to 7 bloggers who you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap and whose blogs you find brilliant in design and content.

Here's my set of 10 honest confessions about myself:

I am a very easy person to live with. No kidding. I don't nag, I eat without making a fuss, I'm very flexible regarding most mundane things in life, and I don't even ask too many questions! (Well, not unless any of my plans are dependent on the answers!) But obviously there's a condition attached to all this freedom - I expect the same from people around me too! :D Live and let me live... that's my simple motto in life.

The sound of TV news reporters really disturbs me. Their obnoxiously fast rate of speech and the hyper-agitated tone of their voice completely rattles my mental equilibrium. Oh and not to forget the repeated "I am telling you", "I wish to tell you", "let me tell you", "what I'm going to tell you" blah blah blah after every single minute! (Or perhaps it is in every single sentence?) I wish they'd take news reading lessons from the Vividh-bharti news readers!

I tend to completely lose myself in the books I read. I can be found rolling on my bed in loud guffaws or on the verge of falling off my chair (definitely not feminine in any way)! I can also be found sobbing silently, with real tears in my eyes. As a matter of fact, I can be found doing those things watching a movie too!

I hate watching mushy romantic movies by the way. I would choose an Ocean's or a Die Hard over a Serendipity any day. Just like I would choose a Sidney Sheldon, Dan Brown or a Wilbur Smith over a Mills & Boons any day.

I LOVE tea. [drools] In fact, here's a secret... no matter how much you've pissed me off, no matter how angry I am with you, if you just make a cup of tea for me -- with very little sugar, and even less milk -- then you're back in my good books! Yes, making up with me is as simple as that! :D What! You don't believe me? Well ask my Dad then, huh!

I am hypothermic. (Yupp! The female character in the story "Beard Trap" was inspired by my own traits!) My usual body temperature is 96.8 degrees, instead of the normal 98.4 degrees. And when people around me are wearing one sweater, I'm usually stuffed in two!

I become very irritable when I don't get enough sunlight. As a normal rule, I hate going out of the house unless there is absolute necessity. But back in Delhi, my sister's place is sort of in a basement (in Khirki Extn.)! And there have been occasions when I simply went for a stroll to the Malviya Nagar Main Market, and back, at peak noon, just so I could absorb some sunlight! (I guess there's absolutely no point in dreaming about a future between me and Edward Cullen, right?)

Aamir Khan is the only Bollywood entity whose poster ever adorned my personal space in the bedroom shared by my sister and me. When he first entered the scene, not many people cared for a boy-next-door kind of character. I almost broke the nose of several of my classmates (Mentally, at least, as my "ladylike" upbringing didn't quite allow me to get into real fights with kids at school!) because they dared to criticize him!

I used to bunk a lot of Physics classes when I was in class 11th and 12th. And a couple of times, I also bunked the Commerce coaching I took for a month (as I was switching from Science in I.S.C. to Commerce in College)... went to have golgappas with my friends instead! (I wonder if my kids will ever get to read this post. I hope not.)

I don't really deserve this "Honest Scrap Award" completely. I don't blog here as honestly as I should, considering the fact that this is my personal blog! But I guess that's the way I am! :D Having said that, whatever part of myself I DO share with my readers here, I share it with complete honesty... straight from the heart.

So thank you, Shilpa. And I pass this on to the following 7 bloggers:

Garima

Vyazz

Ritu

Meghana

Shanu

Tavish

Maithili

You guys know what you need to do, right! ;-)

The second award, that was pending collection by me, came from Prashansa - the "I Luv Your Blog Award". Thanks Pra! This one doesn't come with a tag attached to it! But I decided to change the rules a bit to make it more interesting. While accepting this award, you guys have to write a post describing how you fell in love... with anyone/anything.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Most people believe that if a person is fat, then s/he must be overeating. But that is sooooooo wrong! I had to struggle against this prejudice for almost 2 years, until finally someone got the idea to have me tested for hypothyroidism. I tested positive. But even after 2 years of regular medication for it, and the pranayams and the walks, my weight still kept increasing... slowly yes, but steadily. And this was totally bizarre because until a few years ago, my body used to respond immediately to walking!
Once again, I found myself face-to-face with the same prejudice... that if you're fat, you must be overeating!

The irony was that at my home, my Dad does all the shopping, I rarely go out, and most certainly not on my own! He hardly ever brings any cream biscuits home (they are reserved for special treats). We don't have sweets after every meal. No regular pastries or ice creams either. And I don't like cold drinks or alcohol. We make fried stuff at home maybe 2 or 3 times a year. (I'm not too fond of cooking, as you all know.) And living in a town where there's still no PizzaHut or McDonald's (Dominos is crap!), and working from home, it hardly gives me any opportunity to gorge on fast food! My total sugar intake in a day is about 2-2.5 teaspoons! And I still get to hear that I need to cut my diet! (Cut my diet to what... sunlight and air?)

Well, thankfully, due to my content writing work, I got to know of the symptoms of water retention and edema. And fortunately, having a doctor friend, who isn't as prejudiced as the rest of the world, helped me get detailed information about them. (Well you can't just trust everything on the net blindly, can you? Especially in the medical field!)

So, while the physical causes of water retention/edema in my body are still to be verified, the basic root cause is obviously very clear. Some part of my psyche wants me to be fat. Hence, my subconscious is automatically creating that fat in my body... literally by hook or crook!

The Subconscious is Like a Strong Magnet!

(A side note for my readers: If you want to be obese, then keep things simple... stick to overeating. Hypothyroidism and Water Retention etc. cause a lot of other problems in the body... more serious problems! You don't want to deal with them, trust me!)

So anyways, in the past few days, I have been trying to get to the reason behind this need for extra fat in my body. Why does my subconscious want me to be fat? No amount of Reiki or meditation seemed to work in solving this "mystery". I kept drawing up against a blank wall! And this was again very unusual, you know. Normally, if I'm seeking answers to some questions in my life, I just keep churning the questions over and over in my head for a length of time, and then suddenly the answers become visible to me during net surfing or while reading some magazine or the newspaper. There have even been occasions when somebody in my Facebook friend list updated their status message with the answer I needed! But not this time.

Finally I decided to ask for help from one of my flesh-and-blood guides. And guess what! The Universe has some really strange ways of working!

Did you know that becoming fat is perhaps THE easiest way for an Indian girl to avoid getting married? I didn't know this! At least not at the conscious level of my mind! But reflecting back on it now... it makes absolute sense! Become fat, tell everyone you are ready to get married, but you still won't get married... 'coz pick up the matrimonial classifieds from any newspaper of the country... they all want a fair and "slim" girl! Brilliant beyond brilliant, isn't it? No "well-wishers" pestering you anymore about the "foolishness" of your decision to not marry for so long! In fact, nobody will even bring up the topic anymore! Guess my subconscious knew this all along, even if I didn't!

So anyways, the question that naturally arises in my mind after this "enlightening discovery" is - "Is it true? Do I honestly NOT want to get married?"

After giving it some serious thought, I have come to the conclusion that this is not true anymore. In fact, this program should have been declared "invalid" long time ago. (End of July 2009, to be precise. Or definitely by June 2010 at the max!) I guess I just forgot I had put it in my subconscious and that it was still working there. But honestly speaking, I have absolutely no reasons at all now for delaying marriage. When I ask myself - "What exactly am I waiting for now?" - I can find no honest answer to it. We may lie to the entire world, but, at the end of the day, we've got to be honest with ourselves. So I guess it's time now to replace that old program in my subconscious, with a new one.

I wonder what tactic would be used by the subconscious of an Indian man, to escape the same pressure of marriage. Oh wait... I think I already know. I suppose an Indian man would use financial/career instability as a cover for delaying/avoiding marriage! Am I right?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Just read the most outrageous and insane post in all my 4 years of blogging! The post is from a female, and… hold your breath… it talks about liberation FOR Indian MEN!

Yupp! You heard me right! The author says “We’re a sexist nation and have been discriminating against men all these years without even realizing it.” Here’s the full deal… “Article 15(X), Men’s Right to Freedom” (http://21fools.com/index.php/dj-ki-aukat/322-article-15x-mens-right-to-freedom). Please open this post in another tab/window because I will be referring to ALL the paragraphs in it one-by-one.

1. Para 2: (regarding freedom from preset roles and goals…)

And who set those roles and goals into place? Who defined those norms? India has been a male dominated country for ages! Female influence in shaping these laws of the society has been only exceptional, not general! So the law-makers need freedom to change their own laws now?

2. Para 3: (regarding physical abuse???)

Woahhh! And where does the physical abuse come from? Do mothers hit their sons? I don’t think so. I have always seen Indian mothers giving the best piece of cake to sons, the bigger portions of maggi noodles to sons, a higher amount of pocket money to sons, freedom from doing their share of work at home to sons… the list is endless. If the guys take any thrashing, it’s only from their fathers. In other words, the violence too, if any, comes from the male part of our Indian society! And in families where kids are beaten, daughters aren't spared the rod either.

3. Para 4: (regarding dreams, career and responsibility)

As a generalization, the entire paragraph lacks any hint of truth! Sure, there are occasional men here and there who want to pursue a non-standard career, like dancing/singing/any other arts. But, again, the pressure to follow the “beaten path” comes from the Dads. Mothers are usually too soft-hearted for their sons. Also, if you compare statistics, you will find a greater percentage of the Indian FEMALE population that has been forced to sacrifice their dreams and ambitions at the altars of domestic responsibilities!

4. Para 5: (regarding cooking and cleaning)

Hello! Men need to be GIVEN the freedom to do “cooking and cleaning”? Well who is stopping them? Why can’t they fix their own snack in the evening? Why do they ask their mom/wife to make tea for them and give them something to eat? And who’s stopping them from doing their laundry or even cleaning their own room for that matter? Hahhh! The post makes it seem like we bind them in chains or something if they offer to help around the house!

5. Para 6: (regarding men being the perpetual escort, bodyguard, chauffeur or personal guide to all the women in the family)

Well, if the other “men” around the nation stop being the hormone-slaved leeches, then there wouldn’t be any need for “protecting” the women of the family, right? So once again, who is to blame for this “binding” upon Indian men? Correct… Indian men themselves! Nobody can free anyone from self-bondage.

6. Para 7: (regarding responsibility for old parents)

[Bangs head on wall!] And silly me thought that we Indians looked after our aging parents out of love and because we liked their company! But seriously, isn’t this getting already obsolete in today’s times? What percentage of Indian youth is staying abroad today, away from their parents? Forget about abroad; let’s talk about domestic migration only. How many young men and women of the nation have migrated across Indian states for education and career, and are currently NOT staying with their parents? So why do they still need freedom from this responsibility? Aren’t they already free? And the author talks about Indian men considered responsible for their OWN aging parents… what about all those Indian women who are still expected to take leave from work if their parents-in-law drop in for a visit? What a one-sided post!

7. Para 8: (regarding hen-pecked husbands)

LOL! The term was apparently created by a man again! Indian women would simply love to have their partners express care and affection in more tangible ways. If you need proof, go read Shilpa Garg’s blog. You will find numerous posts in which she has explicitly expressed appreciation for such thoughtful gestures from her hubby. And you will also find comments from other females there – NOT derogatory comments (hen-pecked, spineless etc.) but really respectful ones. For those of my male readers who are still living under illusions: A man who is secure enough in his masculinity to give his female partner a shoulder massage after she’s had a tiring day, or one who dares help in the domestic responsibilities, or in child care… he is held in the highest esteem by his partner and her female friends! It’s only his male friends who might call him spineless and hen-pecked!

8. Para 9: (regarding child care and custody)

Once again, who is stopping you from looking after your own kids? Who is forbidding you to change the dirty diapers of your babies? Who denies you the pleasure of waking up early in the morning to get your kids ready for school and pack their lunch boxes? If you must know, my Dad used to make milk for both my sister and me when we went to school. And even today, he’s the one who makes the morning tea in our house. He’s the man of the house, guys… he’s already FREE to do what he wants! He doesn’t need anybody’s permission!

9. Para 10: (‘men’s only’ railway coaches and swimming timings!)

LOL! How many men honestly want this? As I said, the post has been written by a female! But do the guys really want to exist in a world bereft of females to ogle… and do other more obscene acts, such as “accidental” groping etc.?

10. Para 11: (pursue professions like teaching nursery schools!)

ROTFL! In my 33 years of experience, I have come across a very few Indian men who feel comfortable around small kids! Most men in our country are either scared of small kids, or find them irritating/noisy/pain-in-the-ass! Add to it their personal high ambitions! A nursery school teacher isn’t what you’d call a very promising career in our country! Hence, such “menial” jobs are “left” for the Indian females. (Told you this was the most senseless post I’ve ever read in the Blogosphere! I mean what was this female thinking!)

11. Para 12: (‘boys-only’ schools and colleges, male quota!)

Now that was the height of absurdity! Aren’t there enough ‘boys-only’ schools and colleges already? Why need more? In fact, why need even a single ‘boys-only’ or ‘girls-only’ educational institute? God made a co-ed world. So why do we need to go against God’s Nature? And male reservation quota? Which planet did this female drop in from? Do Indian MEN need to be pushed beyond the confines of their houses? Are Indian BOYS being denied equal opportunities for education compared to the Indian girls? Delusional!

The entire post was so senseless and insane, on a genuinely sensitive topic, that it made me dedicate an entire post to it on my blog! As it so happens, I have a very short tolerance level for such narrow-mindedness in the Indian society... both from males and females! There is something called taking responsibility of one’s actions and one’s life. And here, she goes about, portraying the Indian men as “helpless victims” of a major injustice!

Even today, in the Indian corporate world, men get a higher pay package for the same skill set, experience and job responsibilities than women. Even today, in middle class families, daughters are expected to make tea for visitors and not sons (unless there are only sons in the family). Even today, in lower class families with limited income, the sons would be allowed to go for higher education while the daughters relegated to domestic responsibilities and marriage. Even today, in families at/below poverty line, malnutrition is higher in girls/females than boys/males. Even today, the husband of my domestic help gets drunk regularly and beats her and the kids. And she cannot leave because the Indian society (at least that section of the society) still looks down upon such a female.

And she talks about liberation for Indian men! Well, if they really need liberation, then let THEM speak up for it! How many men do you see around you, shouting for women’s liberation? How many Indian men step in if a pervert is ogling at a female in the bus or train? Indian women have been fighting for their “freedom” all by themselves for years now. So if guys want to change things too now, then let them come forward!

What’s wrong in it? Evolution is the most natural phenomenon of Nature. And so is friction associated with any kind of change. We females have been dealing with this friction for years now. And obviously, the men won’t find it all a smooth sailing either! But let THEM stand up for it if they really feel that an injustice is being done to them or that their dreams are being killed. Let THEM take responsibility for their life. Let them come out and INSIST that they want to pack their own lunch for office, or that they want to do the laundry, or that they want to help their kid in his/her homework...

The irony is that in that entire absurd post, the girl completely forgot to mention the most important point of all… the ONE thing for which Indian men DO INDEED need freedom -– freedom to express themselves! We Indians will keep harping along the tunes of “Boys are strong” and “Boys don’t cry”… and, in the process, keep churning out men who are clueless about expressing their emotions correctly and dealing with their insecurities in a proper way.

So if you MUST liberate the Indian men from something, then I only ask you to give them freedom to express themselves… to express their love, their affection, their fear, their weakness, their need… and express all this without the help of an alcohol-induced “high”!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Three scores and three. Made it so far without causing any major calamities (for me or the family). Most girls... ok make it "practically ALL girls"... would rather not disclose their age on their public blog, or would prefer to appear younger than they actually are, but for me, my age is a matter of immense pride. Those of my readers (especially the male ones) who have made the mistake of jumping to the assumption that I'm in my early twenties, know better now! [grins]

The thing is... I was a teenager once, and it was fun being a teenager at THAT time. Then I passed through my twenties too, and even that period seemed cool THEN. But now I'm in my thirties, and it may seem old to some (ok many), but for me, it's just the age I want to be right now. The perfect middle ground between over-excited youth and graying wisdom! If you ask me (nobody will, I know, but I'll answer anyway!)... "thirties" is when life really starts getting "HOT" [with a sly crooked smile]! As a matter of fact, I think the forties will be even more "hot"... and not due to global-warming! He he!

I know... the teenage readers here and all the young college freshmen will not accept this without a fight. In fact, I'm pretty sure they won't even accept it WITH a fight, but, it's not them... it's just their age that is to blame. But that's okay, my friends... you all will also get to be 30 one day. So go ahead and enjoy your teens and twenties while you still can. And rest assured that when you finally reach the thirties, I will be prancing around in my forties somewhere, and I will come back here to brag about how cool the forties are! Hahahahahahahahah!

But enough teasing the youngsters here... let's get back to my birthday. I was informed by a couple of people yesterday that the day carried special energy vibes (11.1.11) and that meditation or other energy work would be very beneficial. The funny thing was that even without this information, the first thing I had done yesterday morning (after having tea, of course) was to give myself a very welcome Chakra balancing session with Reiki. The energy flow was superb, though I had no idea it was due to the "vibes of the day". And the last thing I did before hitting my pillow yesterday, was a half an hour meditation session, followed by a few minutes of silent chanting. The energy movement that I could feel through my body then was even better than the morning. Vibes or no vibes, it sure felt good. :D

Also, I spent a lot of time yesterday on phone and the internet... in active social interaction... something that I don't do much on a regular basis. (Despite the general "chatterbox" mood of this blog, I'm actually a very quiet person in real life.) But for birthdays, I mentally prepare myself in advance for all the extra interaction, which makes it easy to deal with. So anyways, the phone conversations obviously started with the wishes and the birthday celebrations, eventually leading up to the most favorite topic of Indians: MARRIAGE. I mean come on now... an Indian female, still single on her 33rd birthday, is obviously a major source of mystery to the rest of the countrymen, isn't she? Well I was in such a good mood yesterday that I listened amicably to everybody's suggestions and advice... even played along with them!

Some of the full-time housewives told me that marriage is crap, a totally useless arrangement, and that I'm better off single. My own cousin (who is 3 years younger to me, but has a 4-year old son) advised me to go for a live-in arrangement instead! (Yeah, I told her I will convey her suggestion to my Dad, giving her full credit for it!) And some sounded totally exhausted with all their domestic drudgeries. Not even a hint of the old fun and excitement in their voice. In fact, after hearing their voice on the phone, I was like "WOW! They remembered to wish me in THAT mental state! They must really care for me a LOT!"

On the other hand, one of my male friends, who is married to a full-time housewife, is blissfully happy... he's apparently got a free "personal secretary" to take care of all his domestic chores and social responsibilities, while he slogs to earn the bread for the family. Fair enough. (I have seen him appreciating all the little things she does at home, such as cooking in the hot kitchen in peak summers, so I know he was only joking about the "personal secretary" thing!)

And then there were those eternally young spirits, who constantly complain about their growing waist lines, about their extraordinarily naughty kids, and their hectic work schedule too in some cases... and keep laughing all the while they complain... as if their messy life is the funniest thing that ever happened to anyone in the whole world! Like I said... eternally young! :D

Then there were a few philosophical friends too, who told me it didn't really matter whether one married or not. Like me, they are the "thinkers". They think, and they think, and then they think some more. And eventually they come to the conclusion that it's not worth all that thinking... it doesn't really matter anyway. :D

So anyways, all that social interaction yesterday gave me a LOT of food for thought... so let me share some of my "thinking" with you guys now.

I think that marriage is nothing but what we think it to be. People who take it as a major responsibility feel burdened by its weight all the time. Those who take it as a binding or restriction get exactly that from the relation. The ones who consider it as a support system... "mutual give-and-take" or "sharing of responsibilities"... find that it's just like any other business arrangement (a few compromises, some negotiations, and benefits worthy of the risks and "sacrifices" involved). And the happiest of the lot are perhaps the ones who just take it as a new experience, with an open mind, ready to accept both the positives and the negatives equally, with all their focus on having as much fun out of any situation that comes up.

And then I thought some more too. About kids. Well kids just grow up on their own, regardless of how much time and attention you give them. They just adapt to whatever they see around them. And they learn to expect the "familiar" surroundings. There is simply no way to be the "perfect" parent. There is no such thing as a perfect parent! The entire life is a long process of trying new things, making mistakes, learning, trying more new things, making more mistakes, learning some more. The whole idea of being a "perfect" ANYONE is delusional!

And finally I thought about marriage and me. And I realized that the most important things for me, in such a relationship, were honesty, communication, support and appreciation. I could live in any circumstances, in any part of the world, as long as these four basic conditions were met. But the absence of even one of these four things would mark the end of the relationship for me.

I can live in the toughest of conditions; I can work a full-time job and manage the house too if required, or I can be a full-time housewife if so required; I can stay with in-laws or without them; I can adapt to practically any kind of situations. But if there is restricted/closed communication between me and my partner, I will start looking for the exit. If there is lack of transparency, I will start looking for that exit even more urgently. And if I feel I'm not being appreciated, or my partner is not supportive enough, and it's always boiling down to "him" and "his needs" and "his wishes" and "his dreams" blah blah blah... then I will just run! Not only run, but also attempt to bolt all the doors behind me so he couldn't follow me!

Does that sound crazy or irrational (or any other mumbo-jumbo you want to call it)? Maybe it does. But that's how I am... at least at the time of writing this post. Oh and in case you are wondering about the absence of "love" in my "basic requirement" list... well that was deliberate. In my 33 years of existence on this planet, I have learnt that different people have different interpretations of the word. It's usage is so ambiguous, in fact, that I no longer consider it as a parameter for deciding who I get married to.

Oh and one last thing I "thought" on this subject was that I would rather stay single my entire life than spend it with someone who doesn't value my presence in his life.

So much for all the thinking. I'm off to bed. If you find any typos in the post, kindly ignore them this once. Thanks.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I just came here to blog, and saw this unpublished post sitting in my Drafts folder. I guess I was supposed to look for an image to go with this post, but then it slipped out of my mind. Publishing it now, though it was supposed to go online on January 2nd.. . . . .

The New Year, 2011, descended with a blast... bringing with it new eccentricities, new aspirations! Perhaps it's got something to do with the strange combination of numbers this year holds for me. I will turn 33 this year... which is a double number (3-3). Besides that, my birthday this year will fall on 11-1-11, i.e. January 11, 2011. So a "double 3" and a "quintuple 1". Interesting, isn't it? (Or maybe it isn't for you, if Mathematics wasn't your favorite subject in school!)

Picture Credit: CartoonStock

So anyways... my newest "hobby" (you are certainly free to refer to it as "eccentricity" though!) is... "cooking"! Don't ask me when and how this "catastrophe" happened, but, these days, my creative juices are seeking an outlet via my culinary skills! In fact, I'm actually beginning to think of myself as a "scientist" these days, and the kitchen as my "laboratory"!

Yesterday, we had a full "family gathering" at my place for evening tea. The original proposition had been that we were meeting up only for tea/coffee, with ready-made snacks from the market if required, and no cooking. But, I cheated. I needed scapegoats to try some of my culinary experiments, so I didn't tell anyone that I was cooking, and secretly prepared three items to be served along with the tea, out of which, two were absolutely new "inventions", that "happened" because of my very limited technical-know-how in the kitchen, but primarily due to my scantily-furnished kitchen-stock!

Now since these were brand new recipes, never tested before by me, I was a bit apprehensive whether the dishes would be palatable or not. So I didn't make them in quantities that delicious dishes ought to made in! (I didn't really know they would turn out to be delicious, you know!) I only made them in quantities accepted for "okie-dokie" kind of dishes! And that was my biggest mistake!

What I didn't know at that time was that my cousins were bringing along some whiskey too! (Yeah well, the "evening" tea got postponed to almost 8 pm, because my other nephew - the 3-year-old one, who stays in Mumbai and is currently visiting Patna - decided to postpone his afternoon nap from the usual 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, and everybody had to wait till he finished his nap!) And one of my "inventions" happened to be the perfect accompaniment for the drink! End result: the "supply" fell completely short of the "demand"! So short in fact, that it didn't even touch the halfway mark! :(

But on the other hand, I realized (yet again!) that it sure does feel good when all the food you've cooked disappears from the plates within minutes! He he he! :D

I've got to go re-fill my kitchen stock today, and then I'll try some more "experiments" in my "laboratory". The recent throat infection and fever wasted 4 very precious days of my time! Never mind. Minor setbacks keep happening in all spheres of life. But I DO wish my sister had been home these days. It's a different kind of fun... fooling around in the kitchen with your sister. Though Dad helped a lot. And I mean, a LOT lot!

And the icing on the cake... everybody started feeling so much at home that we decided to have dinner at my place too... the "take away" kind! So I picked up my phone and called up the place and told the guy I wanted to order dinner for 12 people. But oops! I should have looked at the time before calling! It was a few minutes past 10 pm, and the poor guy informed me, with obvious regret in his voice, that their kitchen was already closed, and he was on his way home after delivering the last order of the day! What rotten luck! This is what happens when you're so busy enjoying yourself that you forget to take care of the practicalities!

Well anyway, my uncle (Dad's eldest brother) is also a "scientist" of the same nature. (Not important here, but I happen to be one of his favorite scapegoats for all his major "inventions"!) He then decided to take charge of the dinner preparations at home... MY home! I gave him full details of my miniscule kitchen inventory and then willingly surrendered the "place of honor" to him, content with minor jobs like chopping tomatoes and cleaning up the mess etc.! Besides, the gathering also included one aunt and two sisters-in-law, all of them highly more experienced in this fine art! So there was no reason for me to get in their way! [wink]

In short, yesterday was a classic proof of the saying that "Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans!" So much for the original plans of "no cooking"! :p Don't know yet about anyone else, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Big families are so much fun, despite the fact that your bed covers are scribbled at random places with black marker pen, you have to hide your pen drives in your cupboard someplace 'coz the toddlers seem to have a special affinity towards them, the way to your bathroom is completely blocked by the noisy gathering of toddler nephews and college-going cousins watching some movie on your PC (giggling at funny scenes, giggling at sad scenes, even giggling at the sight of each other's faces!), everybody's shoes and socks disappearing under various odd pieces of furniture, and basically nothing in its place! Life at its chaotic best! :D

Meet The Author

Business Owner. Freelance Writer. Blogger.
As mysterious as this world around me.
Witty. Humorous. Thought provoking.
Sometimes sweet, but mostly spicy.
Here's my complete profile.
If you'd like to work with me, please have a look at the Services I offer, and Contact me.

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